The exoplanet WASP-121b, observed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and belonging to the “hot Jupiter” class, has been discovered to be leaking its atmosphere into space and emitting huge helium tails.
Elchi.az reports that this discovery by astronomers from the Universities of Geneva and Montreal is recorded as the most comprehensive study of atmospheric loss continuously monitored along the planet’s orbit.
600,000 kilometers of helium trace in space
WASP-121b is so close to its star that it completes one orbit in just 30 hours. The strong radiation from its star heats the planet’s atmosphere to thousands of degrees. Due to this extreme heat, light elements such as hydrogen and helium escape the planet’s gravity and scatter into space.
Thanks to James Webb’s sensitive instruments, it has been observed that the leaking gas forms not only a tail around the planet, but also two huge streams covering more than half (60%) of its orbit.
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